More has been written about Thomas Jefferson than any other figure in American history save Abraham Lincoln. The authoritative bibliography is Frank Shuffelton, Thomas Jefferson: A Comprehensive, Annotated Bibliography of Writings About Him (1826–1980) (1983), and Thomas Jefferson, 1981–1990: An Annotated Bibliography (1992).

Jefferson’s writings

The definitive edition of Jefferson’s papers is Julian P. Boyd et al. (eds.), Papers of Thomas Jefferson (1950– ), which includes extensive editorial notes, all of Jefferson’s known letters and writings, plus all correspondence to him that has survived. This multivolume work is an ongoing project; but this edition stops in the mid-1790s, so material relating to his public career as vice president and president, as well as his long retirement, must be obtained from two older editions: Andrew Adgate Lipscomb (ed.), The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 20 vol. (1903–04), is more comprehensive but less reliable; Paul Leicester Ford (ed.), The Works of Thomas Jefferson, 12 vol. (1893–99), is more reliable but less comprehensive. Convenient collections of essential primary sources are Merrill D. Peterson (ed.), The Portable Thomas Jefferson (1975, reissued 1997), and Writings (1984). Several collections of correspondence provide access to specific phases of his career or particular relationships: James Morton Smith (ed.), The Republic of Letters, 3 vol. (1995), reproduces the correspondence with James Madison from 1776 to 1826; Douglas L. Wilson and Lucia Stanton (eds.), Jefferson Abroad (1999), covers the years in France, 1784 to 1789; Lester J. Cappon (ed.), The Adams-Jefferson Letters, 2 vol. (1959, reprinted 1 vol., 1988), provides the extraordinary correspondence with John and Abigail Adams from 1777 to 1826; Edwin Morris Betts and James Adam Bear, Jr. (eds.), The Family Letters of Thomas Jefferson (1966, reprinted 1986), contains a good sample of letters to and from his daughters and grandchildren. Information about Jefferson’s library, which became the basis for the Library of Congress collection when Jefferson sold it to the federal government in 1815, is available in E. Millicent Sowerby (compiler), Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, 5 vol. (1952–59, reprinted 1983).

Biographies

Among the full-life biographies, the standard against which all are measured is Dumas Malone, Jefferson and His Time, 6 vol. (1948–81), which is a monumental scholarly achievement that takes Jefferson’s view of all the controversial issues. Less comprehensive but somewhat more critical, especially on the latter years, is Merrill D. Peterson, Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation (1970, reprinted 1987). Invaluable because it draws upon conversations with those family and friends who knew Jefferson personally is the early biography by Henry Stephens Randall, The Life of Thomas Jefferson, 3 vol. (1857, reprinted 1972). Reliable and reverential accounts include Gilbert Chinard, Thomas Jefferson: The Apostle of Americanism, 2nd ed. rev. (1939, reissued 1963); Noble E. Cunningham, Jr., In Pursuit of Reason: The Life of Thomas Jefferson (1987, reissued 1992); and Alf J. Mapp, Jr., Thomas Jefferson, 2 vol. (1987–91). Fawn M. Brodie, Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History (1974, reissued 1998), makes the sexual relationship with Sally Hemings the centre of the story and also makes extensive use of psychiatric theories. Andrew Burstein, The Inner Jefferson: Portrait of a Grieving Optimist (1995), focuses on the sentimentalism of Jefferson’s core identity. Joseph J. Ellis, American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson (1997), provides a more critical portrait, focusing on Jefferson’s systemic contradictions.

Special topics

Comprehensive essays

Jefferson’s multiple interests and his long career in public service during a crucial chapter of American history combine to generate a huge array of monographs on particular aspects of his life and legacy. The most convenient collection of essays on the current scholarly perspectives across this vast range of topics is Peter S. Onuf (ed.), Jeffersonian Legacies (1993). An older version of the panoramic perspective is Lally Weymouth (ed.), Thomas Jefferson: The Man, His World, His Influence (1973).

Political thought

On Jefferson’s political thought, see Garrett Ward Sheldon, The Political Philosophy of Thomas Jefferson (1991, reprinted 1993); David N. Mayer, The Constitutional Thought of Thomas Jefferson (1994); and Richard K. Matthews, The Radical Politics of Thomas Jefferson: A Revisionist View (1984, reissued 1987). For the broader intellectual context, see Daniel J. Boorstin, The Lost World of Thomas Jefferson (1948, reissued 1993). Three books offer different interpretations of the Declaration of Independence: Carl Becker, The Declaration of Independence: A Study in the History of Political Ideas (1922, reprinted 1972); Garry Wills, Inventing America: Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence (1978, reissued 1980); and Pauline Maier, American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence (1997). Jefferson’s protean political legacy is the subject of Merrill D. Peterson, The Jefferson Image in the American Mind (1960, reissued 1998), a magisterial account. A major new window into Jefferson’s thought is provided by Herbert E. Sloan, Principle and Interest: Thomas Jefferson and the Problem of Debt (1995).

Slavery and race

On slavery and race, John Chester Miller, The Wolf by the Ears: Thomas Jefferson and Slavery (1977, reissued 1991), is the standard work. Winthrop D. Jordan, White Over Black: American Attitudes Toward the Negro, 1550–1812 (1968, reissued 1977), is seminal; as is David Brion Davis, The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution, 1770–1823 (1975, reissued 1999). For the context of slavery at Monticello, see James A. Bear, Jr. (ed.), Jefferson at Monticello (1967). The great paradox of Jefferson’s position as a slaveholder is probed rather brilliantly in Edmund S. Morgan, American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia (1975, reissued 1995).

Life at Monticello

The domestic context at Monticello is the subject of several important books. Sarah N. Randolph, The Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson (1871, reprinted 1978), provides an affectionate portrait by his descendants. Jack McLaughlin, Jefferson and Monticello: The Biography of a Builder (1988, reissued 1990), goes beyond architectural issues to explore the daily lives of all the residents on the mountain. Elizabeth Langhorne, Monticello: A Family Story (1987, reissued 1989), focuses on the white residents. Edwin Morris Betts (ed.), Thomas Jefferson’s Farm Book (1953, reprinted 1987), reproduces Jefferson’s plantation records. Susan R. Stein, The Worlds of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello (1993), recovers the material objects Jefferson gathered inside the mansion. Merrill D. Peterson (ed.), Visitors to Monticello (1989), reproduces the accounts of firsthand observers.

Jefferson in France

Jefferson’s five-year stay in France is explored in William Howard Adams, The Paris Years of Thomas Jefferson (1997); George Green Shackelford, Thomas Jefferson’s Travels in Europe, 1784–1789 (1995); and Marie Goebel Kimball, Jefferson: The Scene of Europe, 1784 to 1789 (1950). On the matter of Jefferson’s love affair with the French Revolution, Conor Cruise O’Brien, The Long Affair: Thomas Jefferson and the French Revolution, 1785–1800 (1996, reissued 1998), is a highly critical account.

Political career in the 1790s

On his political career in the 1790s, the standard overview is Lance Banning, The Jeffersonian Persuasion: Evolution of a Party Ideology (1978, reissued 1980). See also Joseph Charles, The Origins of the American Party System (1956, reissued 1961); and Noble E. Cunningham, The Jeffersonian Republicans: The Formation of Party Organization, 1789–1801 (1957, reissued 1963). The crucial role of the political partnership with James Madison is addressed in Adrienne Koch, Jefferson and Madison: The Great Collaboration (1950, reprinted 1986).

Jefferson’s presidency

In addition to the coverage provided in the full-scale biographies, Jefferson’s presidency receives book-length treatment in Forrest McDonald, The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson (1976); Robert M. Johnstone, Jr., Jefferson and the Presidency: Leadership in the Young Republic (1978); and Noble E. Cunningham, Jr., The Process of Government Under Jefferson (1978). Foreign policy is best discussed in Robert W. Tucker and David C. Hendrickson, Empire of Liberty: The Statecraft of Thomas Jefferson (1990, reissued 1992); Lawrence S. Kaplan, Entangling Alliances with None: American Foreign Policy in the Age of Jefferson (1987); and George Dargo, Jefferson’s Louisiana: Politics and the Clash of Legal Traditions (1975). For the domestic implications of the embargo crisis, a splendid assessment is Leonard Williams Levy, Jefferson & Civil Liberties: The Darker Side (1963, reprinted 1989). On his battles with the judiciary, see Richard E. Ellis, The Jeffersonian Crisis: Courts and Politics in the Young Republic (1971, reprinted 1974). On his relations with American Indians, see Anthony F.C. Wallace, Jefferson and the Indians: The Tragic Fate of the First Americans (1999).

Scientist, architect, and educator

Each of Jefferson’s multiple dimensions has attracted scholarly interest. For his scientific achievements, see Silvio A. Bedini, Thomas Jefferson: Statesman of Science (1990); and I. Bernard Cohen, Science and the Founding Fathers (1995, reissued 1997). For his religious views, Edwin S. Gaustad, Sworn on the Altar of God: A Religious Biography of Thomas Jefferson (1996). For his aesthetic and architectural contribution, William Howard Adams (ed.), Jefferson and the Arts: An Extended View (1976). For his educational vision, Roy J. Honeywell, The Educational Work of Thomas Jefferson (1931, reissued 1964); and Harold Hellenbrand, The Unfinished Revolution: Education and Politics in the Thought of Thomas Jefferson (1990).

Jefferson and Sally Hemings

On the question of Jefferson’s relationship with Sally Hemings, the pre-DNA argument against the liaison was best summarized in Virginius Dabney, The Jefferson Scandals: A Rebuttal (1981, reissued 1991). The argument for the liaison was nicely synthesized by Annette Gordon-Reed, Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy (1997). The DNA study appeared in Eugene A. Foster et al., “Jefferson Fathered Slave’s Last Child,” Nature, 396(6706):27–28 (November 5, 1998). Annette Gordon-Reed, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family (2008), won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for history.